FRESH, GREEN LIFE by Sebastian Castillo
Five books in and Sebastian Castillo is proving himself quite the literary chameleon. More than anything, it strikes me that he is having a heap of fun with the written form in a way not too dissimilar to one of my all time favourites, Enrique Vila-Matas. Fresh, Green Life brings his oeuvre full circle, casting a facsimile of himself in the driver’s seat for a wry lampooning of the bookish life.
Castillo - the character, if not the writer - is a modestly successful author who receives an invitation from his former philosophy professor to attend a New Year’s Eve party. He has fond memories of the man, but is really only keen to go so he can see his great unrequited love, Maria. As he makes his way to the old mansion, he goes into satirical overdrive, skewering everything from the philosophical greats and the publishing world to romance and the stupidity of social media. It’s quite the romp, and left me completely unprepared for what the professor actually had in store.
Fresh, Green Life may be the closest Castillo has come to realism, but it also might be his most absurd. And his best.
Fresh, Green Life by Sebastian Castillo
Soft Skull, 2025
139 pages